


Thread the Needle

by hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes)



Series: Holly's Round Eight H/C Bingo Card [23]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen, Injury, Stitches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 12:29:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12365823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiasobi_writes/pseuds/hollyandvice
Summary: Jack can barely take his eyes off the blood staining the right leg of Daniel's BDUs, and he doesn't want to either because every time he looks away, his eyes catch on Daniel's face, pale and terrified with lips pressed together in a thin line to hold back the pain.Daniel's always been more willing than the rest to submit to the ways of the locals. It's never been a bigger problem—or a bigger blessing—than right now.





	Thread the Needle

Jack can barely take his eyes off the blood staining the right leg of Daniel's BDUs, and he doesn't want to either because every time he looks away, his eyes catch on Daniel's face, pale and terrified with lips pressed together in a thin line to hold back the pain.

"How bad is it?"

Daniel snorts, but doesn't answer.

"Right, wrong question." Jack glances over his shoulder at where Carter and Teal'c are laying down fire to hold the Goa'uld at bay. Then he turns back to Daniel. "I'm guessing a sprint isn't on the menu at the moment."

Daniel shakes his head, clearly still not trusting himself to speak. Jack rubs a hand over his face. He's half turned to Teal'c to order him back over so he can try and get Daniel back to the gate and through, but Daniel reaches up to wrap a hand around the back of Jack's neck and haul him in close, shaking his head. "Won't work."

Jack frowns. "What're you talkin' about?"

"Even if Teal'c could carry me and sprint full-out, that many Jaffa would take us out in a second."

"Well then what are you suggesting?"

"Get me back to the village. The healers should be able to get a decent suture put on me, and that with all the painkillers we've got should get me on my feet long enough to get us to the gate."

It takes Jack a minute, but he puts two and two together. "You want to let someone other than Fraiser sew you up?"

"It's the only way, Jack. The wound is too big to just tie off; we need to get it sutured if I'm going to be anything other than useless."

"I'll carry you to the damn gate myself before I let them—"

"You can't and you know it, Jack. It's go back and let them stitch me up or leave me here and bring back help."

Jack can feel the ancient, familiar urge to smack Daniel around the head, but he suppresses it. Daniel's right, as usual, and there's nothing for it but to beat a hasty retreat and hope that the goodwill of the villagers hasn't yet been depleted. He gets to his feet and calls out to Carter and Teal'c, ordering the retreat.

——

Shetan, the woman that had been the first to accept that they were not Goa'uld but travelers as they claimed, is the one that shows them to the healer Asara. Teal'c lowers Daniel onto the bed at the healer's side, and Daniel obediently slips out of his ruined BDUs at Asara's gesture. Asara takes one look at the wound on Daniel's thigh—a gaping monster of a gash running practically from hip to knee, and at least half an inch wide at its widest—and nods, turning away toward her cabinet, reaching, Jack can only assume, for her needles.

Jack resists the urge to settle down on the bed at Daniel's side right up until Asara turns back to them with what might be the thickest needle Jack's ever seen. He feels his knees lock at the sight, and only just manages to stay standing. "Daniel—" he starts, but Daniel cuts him off.

"There's a reason I had Sam give me the painkillers the second you called for a retreat, Jack," he says, and when Jack turns to face him, he can see the way Daniel's face has gone pale again.

"The stuff she gave you is nowhere near as good as a local anaesthetic, are you sure—"

"I'm sure, Jack."

Jack meets Daniel's sharp blue gaze and feels his throat go dry. There's no arguing with those eyes. There never has been. Not for Jack, at any rate.

Still, it doesn't stop Jack settling down on Daniel's other side and leaving a hand conspicuously close to Daniel's as Asara threads the needle and sets up to begin her work. If Daniel's fingers find their way through Jack's the instant the needle pierces his skin, Jack's certain both Teal'c and Carter will deny any knowledge.

Jack finds his gaze drifting between Asara's meticulous work, despite the barbarically large needle, and Daniel's stricken face. For his part, Daniel can't seem to look away from his leg and the careful way Asara is stitching his skin together. Jack squeezes Daniel's hand, but it doesn't seem to be enough to draw his eyes away from her work. "Daniel," he says quietly.

Daniel doesn't look away. "Don't distract her."

"Daniel," Jack says again, and this time Daniel turns to him, eyes bright with irritation. It softens Jack's heart. "Just focus on me, Daniel. Focus on me. Let the rest of it disappear. Okay? Just focus on me."

Daniel's throat works as he swallows, but he nods, his eyes focusing in on Jack's. Jack nods back, feeling the way Daniel's hand tightens around his own, but ignoring the pain. More than once Daniel's gaze starts to drift away, back toward Asara, but each time Jack just tugs on his hand. The third time, Daniel huffs out a sigh and rolls his eyes, but refocuses on Jack. Jack counts the indignance as a win.

"All done."

Jack startles, and Daniel tightens his grip on Jack's hand briefly before releasing it completely. Jack forces himself to ignore the pang of loss that sends through his chest. He glances down at Daniel's thigh, and though whatever thread Asara had used to stitch him up has left a pattern of dark, criss-crossing lines amidst the angry red marks of the puncture wounds, the gash itself seems to be as sealed up as possible under the circumstances.

Jack looks away, meeting Daniel's eyes. There's a fierce look on Daniel's face, one that brooks no argument, and Jack concedes his unspoken concerns without a moment's thought. "You ready to go take out some Goa'uld and head on home?"

Daniel swallows. "Jack—"

"I'll recommend a full deploy to get these Goa'uld out of here and ask the General to get in touch with the Asgard, but we're no good to them the way we are, Daniel."

Daniel's face smooths out with a contented kind of understanding, and he nods. "Alright, then, Jack. Let's go home."

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'ed. Part of my Round Eight H/C Bingo Card. [Come hang with me on tumblr!](http://hollyandvice.tumblr.com/)


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